DualShock 4: Battery Life Similar to DS3, Can Charge in PS4 Standby Mode, Glows Orange When Charging

October 31, 2013
Written by Jason Dunning

As we’re just over two weeks away from the PlayStation 4 launch on November 15th in the United States and Canada, Sony has decided to release a Mega PS4 FAQ. Since it can be rather daunting and contains so much information, we’ll be breaking the important information we’ve yet to cover fully into separate posts, hopefully making finding what you need a little easier.

Focusing on the DualShock 4, you can expect the battery life to last the same as the DualShock 4, with a full charge taking about 2 hours either through a USB cable (included with the PS4, but not with additional controllers) on your PS4, or in a charging station.

When you do charge the DualShock 4 (it will dimly glow orange), it can be done whether the system is active or in standby mode. While that is simple in North America, European PS4 owners will need to navigate to Settings, then Power Save Settings, and enable the Supply Power from USB Ports option.

The process of connecting your DualShock 4 to a PS4 (up to 4 at one time) is the exact same as PS3: connect it via one of the front USB ports. For the auxiliary rear port on the PS4, it is solely reserved for the PlayStation Camera.

As for the 3.5mm headset jack on the DualShock 4, the PS Vita’s headset is fully supported, with other third-party headsets able to support basic audio and chat functionality on PS4, though it will be on a case-by-case basis. You also have the ability to output all game audio through the headset jack by choosing between either ‘Chat Audio’ or ‘All Audio’.

For communication, PS4 users send record and send voice messages of up to 15 seconds long, with PS3 to PS4 communication restricted to just text messages.

A quick rundown of DualShock 4 enhancements are that the Sixaxis motion sensor has been upgraded since the DualShock 3, the “multiple vibration motors” give the DS4 a greater degree of rumble, and that tiny delay between pushing a button and seeing the action performed onscreen (latency) has been reduced when compared to DualShock 3.

Finally, they still refrained from giving us a release date on the Magma Red and Wave Blue DS4s in North America, just saying that the controllers “will be available in North America after PS4 launches.”